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Campaign finance board dismisses complaints against Pawlenty
August 27, 2003

Gov. Pawlenty has been cleared of allegations that he inappropriately received payment from a friend and political ally during his election campaign. (MPR file photo)

The state campaign finance board has dismissed complaints against Gov. Pawlenty over the consulting income he received while running for governor. Pawlenty was paid $60,000 by political ally Elam Baer's pay-phone company. The state DFL party and two Green Party locals questioned whether Pawlenty's consulting company, BAMCO, was an attempt to circumvent political contribution limits. They also allege the payments may have been illegal corporate contributions -- a question the board referred to a county attorney.

St. Paul, Minn. — The board ruled that Pawlenty wasn't required to disclose his BAMCO income. State law requires candidates to disclose income from an "associated business" -- which is defined as two or more people -- and Pawlenty was the sole employee of BAMCO. The board also found Pawlenty made no contributions to his own campaign, and neither did Elam Baer. Pawlenty was pleased with the ruling.

"They confirmed what we said from the beginning, which was we not only met our disclosure requirements, but we exceeded them," says Pawlenty. "That's what we said from day one, and I wish the folks that made the accusations would have done their homework and we could have avoided a couple months worth of messing around."

The board said it didn't have the authority to investigate whether Pawlenty or Access Anywhere violated the state's ban on corporate contributions. It referred the matter to the Dakota County attorney. Pawlenty says he looks forward to being cleared of that charge as well.

DFL state party chair Mike Erlandson says the Campaign Finance Board dismissed the lighter charges against Pawlenty, and left the more serious question for the county attorney.

It is my sincere hope that today's ruling ... will put an end to this summer's overheated political rhetoric, so we can continue to address the important issues facing Minnesota. - Gov. Tim Pawlenty

"Why did he set up BAMCO? He's never come forward with Minnesotans and said why he chose to set up this organization -- other than it seems to be set up so he wouldn't have to disclose that he was being paid while running for office," Erlandson says.

Green Party associate counsel David Schultz says the board's ruling also points out a long-standing loophole in Minnesota's campaign finance laws. He says candidates with solo businesses don't have to report any of that income.

"And the governor did a very good job exploiting that loophole. And so did campaign practices correctly read the letter of the law? Yes. Did they correctly read the spirit of what the law was supposed to do in terms of broader disclosure? No," says Schultz.

Green Party officials say lawmakers should close the loophole next session, before the 2004 election. The two Green Party locals had also asked the Hennepin and Ramsey county attorneys to investigate Pawlenty's consulting income, and Schultz says he thinks all of the complaints will ultimately be referred to one county attorney.

The board also ruled on a Republican complaint against DFL Sen. Ellen Anderson. The board found Anderson failed to list certain investments on her disclosure forms. Anderson amended this year's disclosure form last month to include securities purchased three years ago, and the board ruled that Anderson must also amend forms she filed the last couple of years.

The board didn't impose any penalty on Anderson. She says she hopes the board's ruling puts the matter to rest.

"The public deserves to know important information about elected officials, and we do have to maintain a higher standard of behavior than the average person. I sincerely believe that, and so I was glad to correct the error on my statement, I think it was important to make sure that I did that," says Anderson. "On the other hand, you know, now that the public knows that I have a college fund for my children, I think that's kind of the end of the story."

Anderson says her mistake doesn't fall in the same category as the allegations of potentially illegal corporate contributions against Gov. Pawlenty. Anderson chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, and had intended to hold a hearing about the connection between Pawlenty and other top Republican officials and telecommunications companies.

Republican state party chair Ron Eibensteiner says Democrats opened themselves up to criticism by calling for greater disclosure.

"People who throw the stones really ought to be careful -- like the DFL party and like Ellen Anderson. She has fallen victim to her own politically motivated campaign against the governor."

Eibensteiner filed a separate complaint with the campaign finance board against the DFL, alleging that campaign contributions were illegally funneled between state and federal campaign accounts. The board took no action on that complaint.

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